Babies and diapers. You can’t have one without the other. But the question being asked more and more is, cloth or disposables? There are now strong reasons why cloth diapers should be given a second look, and two local businesses (Diapers n’ More and Bear Bottoms) make going the cloth route a cinch. Both started because they saw a niche, but both are also passionate advocates for cloth diapers.
Disposable diapers have been around since the 1950s, but started taking off in a big way in the 1960s. New mothers heaved a huge collective sigh of relief making the transition out of the old soggy, leaky cloth diapers, and today, pretty well every baby wears disposables diapers at some point.
Unfortunately the negative reputation of cloth is still widespread. But cloth diapers have come along way since those days, and are now arguably as easy to use as disposable. More and more new parents are seriously considering cloth for other reasons too: environmental, health and cost.
Cindy L. and her husband Nick are expecting their first child in July and initially considered cloth diapers for cost-saving reasons. In doing her research, Cindy was very happy to discover the other benefits.
Cindy had initially rejected cloth, because of negative childhood memories, but at Nick’s insistence and a friend’s recommendation, she started her research and discovered Diapers N’ More (www.diapersnmore.ca). What she learned there sold her.
For an initial outlay of about $200, Nick and Cindy are set to go with diapers made from organic cotton. Up to toilet training, they are looking at under $1,000 total. As a comparison, disposable diapers can cost about $2,500 to $3,500 depending on the brand. Not to mention keeping thousands upon thousands of disposable diapers out of the landfill (that’s PER BABY!). According to Environment Canada “in the first two years, the average baby will require between 5,000 and 7,000 diaper changes. As of 2004, approximately 1.7 billion disposable diapers were used each year in Canada… over 4,000,000 are discarded per day in Canada.”
She realizes that there may be more laundry to do, but knows that they will still be ahead financially. “Just having a new baby you’re doing more laundry anyway.”
Diaper technology has changed dramatically over the years. “It’s not just pins any more. It’s clever the way they make diapers now,” says Cindy. Helen at Diapers n’ More explains that diapers are “super simple now.” The “all-in-one,” (Monkey Doodlez), is very popular with men. “Men love Velcro – they don’t like fidgeting with anything. You just slap on and there you go.”
Cindy also discovered that there are lines of diapers made out of hemp and bamboo. Cindy S. at Diapers n’ More explained that bamboo diapers are softer, thinner, yet more absorbent than regular diapers, but they are also a renewable resource and pesticide-free. “They are a big favourite.”
Cindy also learned that babies generally toilet train earlier in cloth, “probably because they feel it more.” Jill at Bear Bottoms concurs, adding that the bulkiness of cloth is a big incentive too.
When Becky and her husband Mark’s twins were born four years ago, the choice of cloth was a given for environmental and health reasons, but with twins, using a service was as well. The thought of laundry without diapers was “overwhelming enough.” For about $40/a week, once a week on Mondays, the dirty ones were put out on the porch “as is” and the clean ones left in their place. They never worried about running out as local company, Bear Bottoms (www.bearbottoms.ca), “really knew their stuff,” and always provided just the right number of diapers.
Becky admits that there is “decidedly more work involved; it’s a commitment,” and a bit more work keeping them dry during the night, though that has improved too.
Jill from Bear Bottoms started the diaper service about six years ago with her husband because her daughter was allergic to disposables and “locally there was not much to be found.” For similar reasons and around the same time, Helen Mahy opened Diapers n’ More at 55 Erb Street East in Waterloo. In that time, the cloth diaper portion of her business has taken off from just a “small per cent to 40 per cent” of her overall business and she offers a comprehensive array of options. People are educating themselves more says Helen, “especially on the internet... A lot of time it does start with cost, but others say, ‘I’m not putting those on my baby and not putting this into the landfill’ – more people talk about landfill than the baby!”
Bear Bottoms takes the diapering service very seriously and strives to make it as environmentally friendly as possible in every aspect from the water filtering system and the tankless hot water system to the environmentally friendly cleaning agents. There are also rigid regular tests of both the diapers and the ph levels. And with 400,000 diapers in service at any one time, that has meant a lot of research. “Oh yah,” laughs Jill. She is proud of the tiny stain rate they have achieved and the fact they are able to use one quarter the water home laundering would.
She says that with their cleaning process, the diapers are sanitized at a higher temperature than at home, which is imperative, as no one gets the same diapers back. It also prevents the residue build-up (which will eventually repel liquid), common with home washing.
Helen states that among the tips she is happy to provide is the kind of detergent (that they sell) to use to prevent residue and prolong the life of the diaper. It also “gets the funky smell out.” It is also environmentally friendly, naturally.
Jill has also researched health studies citing connections to asthma, low sperm count in men, fertility rates and cervical cancer. And she is horrified at the apparent push by diaper companies to keep children in disposables longer and longer. “They are so absorbent now” and commercials make “pull-ups” seem “cool” she says. Of course this means extended years of adding to the landfill.
And summer is coming, which means visits to public pools for some moms and their babies. According to Helen, disposables have been banned at many pools because of the leaching of chemicals and waste into the water. Moreover, they swell up. The solution is swim diapers (offered by both Diapers n’ More and Bear Bottoms).
Buying cloth may be a bigger initial layout but it is often seen as an investment and how many you buy will dictate how often you wash. They are good for multiple children too. Once baby is toilet trained, mothers often sell or swap if they are in good condition.
“It is so worth giving cloth diapers a chance. They are no longer the tri-folded cheese cloth with ill-fitting, leaky plastic pants,” says Becky.
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